Quotes from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“A cavalryman's horse should be smarter than he is. But the horse must never be alowed to know this.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“A horse must be a bit mad to be a good cavalry mount, and its rider must be completely so.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“This man has conquered the world! What have you done?"
The philosopher replied without an instant's hesitation, "I have conquered the need to conquer the world.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“Always attack. Even in defense, attack. The attacking arm possesses the
initiative and thus commands the action. To attack makes men brave; to defend
makes them timorous.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“Fame Imperishable and glory that will never die -- that is what we march for!”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“Warfare is theatre, I have said, and the essence of theatre is aritifce. What we show, we will not do. What we don't show, we will do.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“When deliberating, think in campaigns and not battles; in wars and not
campaigns; in ultimate conquest and not wars.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“Every virtue that reaches the exaggeration, is becoming a defect”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“From that day, I vowed never to squander a moment's care over the good opinion of others. May they rot in hell. You have heard of my abstemiousness in matters of food and sex. Here is why: I punished myself. If I caught my thoughts straying to another's opinion of me, I sent myself to bed without supper. As for women, I likewise permitted myself none. I missed no few meals, and no small pleasure, before I brought this vice under control.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“A cavalryman's horse should be smarter than he is. But the horse must never be allowed to know this.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“He's a sturdy fellow, bald as a hen's egg, and like all engineers, practical as a pensioner.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

“The Band advances to the cadence of the flute, and has no call for retreat. Its code is Stand and Die.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.